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Airport Security Police (Bermuda)

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Airport Security Police
Bermuda Airport Security Police patch
Bermuda Airport Security Police patch
Flag of Bermuda
Flag of Bermuda
Agency overview
Formed1995
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionBermuda International Airport, British Overseas Territories
Size536 acres (2.17 km2)
PopulationNo residential population
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersBermuda International Airport
Sworn members20
Facilities
Stations1

The Airport Security Police is the police force of the Bermuda International Airport.

History of the Bermuda International Airport

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Prior to 1995, the airfield was a US Naval Air Station, NAS Bermuda. Following an ABC News investigative report by Sam Donaldson,[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] which scandalised it as the 'Club Med of the US Navy', NAS Bermuda, and the other US Naval facilities in Bermuda, were slated for rapid closure. The northern end of the airfield had originally been operated by RAF Transport Command (although the first aircraft to be based on the field were Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm target tugs that relocated from Royal Naval Air Station Bermuda in 1943), during the Second World War.

Following the War, all of the RAF establishment in Bermuda had been withdrawn, but the senior local RAF officer, Wing Commander Edward Maurice "Mo" Ware, DFC, remained on loan to the local government (eventually becoming the civilian Director of the Department of Civil Aviation),[11] and oversaw the conversion of the RAF facilities into a Civil Air Terminal (the rest of the airfield, Kindley Field, was, at that time, operated by the US Army Air Forces). By 1945, flying boats were rapidly being replaced as airliners by landplanes, and civil airlines began using the US Army's runway to access the Bermuda Government's terminal. In 1948, the US Army Air Forces became the independent US Air Force, the airbase became Kindley Air Force Base, and the civil flying boat airport on Darrell's Island closed completely. The United States Navy has built its Naval Operating Base Bermuda at the same time that the United States Army had constructed Kindley Field, and had used it as a base for maritime patrol flying boats until 1965, when these were replaced with landplanes and the US Navy's air operations at Bermuda were moved to Kindley Air Force Base. In 1970, by when the United States Air Force had little need of a trans-Atlantic staging post due to the increased range of its bombers and transport aircraft, the airfield was transferred to the US Navy. When the US Navy withdrew from Bermuda in 1995, operation of the entire airfield was handed over to the Bermuda Government, and it was renamed the Bermuda International Airport (with the Civil Air Terminal no longer distinguished within it).

Airport policing prior to 1995

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As a US Naval Air Station, policing of most of the airfield had been a US Naval responsibility, carried out by US NAS Bermuda Police, and by US Navy Security Detachments (for a time, there had also been a US Marine Corps detachment).

The area used by the Bermuda Government, comprising the Civil Air Terminal, and what are now labelled Aprons One and Two, with that part of the taxiways and former runway (currently Taxiway Bravo) which lay between, were policed by the Bermuda Police Service (BPS). The Bermuda Police Service maintained a small station in the Civil Air Terminal, controlled the access points to airside used by workers and vehicles, drove vehicle patrols, and kept watch on the tarmac (with no jetways, passengers at the airport are able to mingle with apron workers). The Bermuda Police Service was responsible for all policing duties on the airside of the Civil Air Terminal, including arresting and removing passengers from aircraft, and responding to emergencies. The Airport Police Station had no jail facilities, but also served to hold people detained by other agencies (Bermuda Immigration, HM Customs, US Customs, Immigration and Agriculture) 'til they could be transferred to the St. George's Police Station. The duties facing the service at the airport were considered unarduous, and it was long used as the first posting for newly-trained constables.

Creation of the Airport Security Police

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An AS Policeman

In 1995, with the withdrawal of the US Navy, the Bermuda government took on responsibility for policing the entire airfield. Unfortunately, Bermuda was still feeling the effects of the recession of the early 1990s, and this had led to a reduction in the manpower of the Bermuda Police Service. At the same time, the new Police Commissioner, Colin Coxall [1], was determined to modernise the Bermuda Police Service by returning it to its roots [2]. It was felt that the service had lost familiarity with the community it was policing, with constables waiting in police stations to react to situations, rather than walking the beat, anticipating, and preventing them. As the Bermuda Police Service attempted to redirect its efforts to more traditional 'community policing', which required a greater manpower, it found itself short of constabulary. Many non-policing roles within the service were reassigned to civilians in order to place more police officers on the street, but it was ultimately decided to withdraw the detachment from the airport in order to make-up the shortfall elsewhere.

The Bermuda Government was still responsible for the policing of the airfield, which responsibility fell to the Ministry of Transport's (MOT) Department of Air Operations (DAO). Rather than organise a new police force itself, the DAO contracted a private company (Island Wide Security Services – now Bermuda Security Group) to organise, recruit, train, and operate the force on its behalf.[12][13] Recruiting was primarily of ex-service personnel. This included former members of the Bermuda Police Service, the Bermuda Reserve Constabulary, The Royal Bermuda Regiment (which trains in Internal security as a potential back-up to the civil police), the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. Former US Naval personnel resident in Bermuda have also been recruited.

The new Airport Security Police took over all airside duties from the Bermuda Police Service (and the US Naval Security Detachments) in 1995. Those parts of the US Naval Base not necessary for the operation of the airfield were fenced off, and were guarded, til the area was redeveloped, by Baselands Security, security guards (who lacked police powers) recruited and controlled by the Bermuda Police Service.[14][15][16][17]

Organisation of the Airport Security Police

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A Policeman of the Airport Security Police

The unit has a strength of about twenty, under the control of a uniformed manager, a former senior officer of the Bermuda Police Service.

The Bermuda Police Service vets recruits, who are trained with the assistance of the Bermuda Police Training School. The Airport Security Police operates under the instruction of the DAO's Aviation Security Officer. Its powers, including its powers of arrest, are all drawn from the Air Transport Act.

As a British Overseas Territory, security of the airfield, and of aviation in Bermuda, is ultimately the responsibility of the UK Government.[18] The National Aviation Security Plan (NASP) of the UK Government's Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) (now the Department for Transport (DfT)), also determined the content of the Bermudian NASP, which describes the roles, responsibilities and procedures relating to security of the Bermuda International Airport.

Consequently, the ASP also act under the oversight of the UK Department for Transport's (DfT) Regional Aviation Security Officer, responsible for Bermuda and for other British Overseas Territories in the Atlantic and the West Indies, based in the United States. Additionally, as the airspace around Bermuda has, by an agreement between the UK and US Governments, been placed under US control, and as passengers flying directly to the United States from Bermuda pre-clear US Immigration and Customs in Bermuda before entering the departure lounge, the duties of the Airport Security Police are also shaped by activities in the US and necessarily have the effect of assisting with the security of the US border.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ The Royal Gazette, Book Review by Roger Crombie: Base hit. Author Grearson produces absorbing account of a key chapter in Bermuda's history. Published Nov 4, 2009 (Updated Feb 10, 2011)
  2. ^ The Royal Gazette: US wanted more time to close USNAS. Americans would leave the Naval Air Station. It is closing in September 1995. Published 26 April 1994 (Updated 9 February 2011)
  3. ^ The Royal Gazette: Millions last night saw Navy chiefs face a -, Published 8 April 1994 (Updated 8 February 2011)
  4. ^ The Royal Gazette: A sailor who blew the whistle on the US Base says he has been victimised by Navy chiefs for his "Club Med" allegations, Published 29 March 1994 (Updated 9 February 2011)
  5. ^ The Royal Gazette: History can be a strange thing. Sometimes the fate of nations have been changed by the most trivial things, Published 25 March 1994 (Updated 8 February 2011)
  6. ^ The Royal Gazette: Bermuda may get two-year reprieve on base, Published 1 November 1993 (Updated 8 February 2011)
  7. ^ The Royal Gazette: Base decision may occur next week, Published 23 October 1993 (Updated 9 February 2011)
  8. ^ The Royal Gazette: Base's future now in hands of US Congress, by Don Grearson News Editor. Published 21 October 1993 (Updated 9 February 2011)
  9. ^ The Royal Gazette: Dellums reassures Premier on US base, Published 20 October 1993 (Updated 9 February 2011)
  10. ^ The Royal Gazette: Archived 8 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine The year in Review, Published 31 December 1993 (Updated 8 February 2011)
  11. ^ "O.B.E.; To be Ordinary Officers of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order: Wing Commander Edward Maurice WARE, D.F.C., Director of Civil Aviation, Bermuda". SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE. London. 14 June 1969. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  12. ^ Royal Gazette Staff (13 April 1995). "Govt. to privatise airport security service". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke Parish, Bermuda. Retrieved 19 July 2024. The security officers will be vetted by Police and will form a "dedicated group" within any security firm that wins the contract, a Base Transition Office spokesman said. They will have special uniforms and be appointed Airport Security Police Officers under the Civil Aviation Act by the Transport Minister. On June 1, when Bermuda takes over air operations from the US Navy, the new security officers will start to man three airfield gates that are currently manned by Bermuda Police, a Base Transition Office spokesman said. On September 1, when the entire US Naval Air Station is turned over to Bermuda, the security officers will be responsible for both access to the airfield and the restricted zone now covered by Bermuda Police. While there will still be a Police presence at the Airport, handling of security by a private firm is expected to put 12 uniformed officers from the Airport detachment back on the street. The call for tenders follows months of discussion with Bermuda Police, the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States, the UK Department of Transport, the US Navy, and the Bermuda Government.
  13. ^ Royal Gazette Staff (30 May 1995). "Island-Wide Security wins Airport contract". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke Parish, Bermuda. Retrieved 19 July 2024. The contract will see specially-trained and uniformed personnel take over Airport security from Bermuda Police in phases between July 1 and September 1, when the Navy pulls out completely. The new Airport Security Police will control access to the airfield and patrol the outside fence. Officers will have powers of arrest, detention, and search. Dr. Gibbons said Bermuda Police will still have "a significant presence at the Airport", retaining responsibility for security of land and buildings outside the airfield fence and providing back-up. Island-Wide, the largest security firm in Bermuda with more than 40 years of experience, was unanimously recommended by a selection team on the basis of price and other contract requirements, Dr. Gibbons said. The company is expected to hire 14 new workers in order to assign 22 people to 24-hour Airport service.
  14. ^ Day, Marcus (28 October 1995). "Edness taken to task by Police Association". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke Parish, Bermuda. Retrieved 18 July 2024. Mr. Edness said Police went on duty at the US Naval Air Station for one month, September 1-October 1, until a civilian security firm could take over.
  15. ^ Royal Gazette Staff (1 July 1996). "Call for progress report delays Base Lands Development Act". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke Parish, Bermuda. Retrieved 18 July 2024. more than 60 jobs in air traffic control, administration, meteorology, security and fire and rescue had been created.
  16. ^ Royal Gazette Staff (13 March 1997). "Gibbons: Base lands will make jobs". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke Parish, Bermuda. Retrieved 18 July 2024. He added that a total of 22 Bermudians were already employed through SERCO at the Airport or sub-contracted, while a change in security arrangements had released four Police officers from the old NAS for normal duties
  17. ^ Royal Gazette Staff (24 August 1995). "Base lands will be off limits' to public". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke Parish, Bermuda. Retrieved 18 July 2024. Mr. Mylod said 28 civilians were being hired and trained to provide round-the-clock Base security under Police supervision. Until civilians were ready to start work on October 1, the Base fence would be patrolled by regular Police and reserves, he said. Twelve officers who had been providing security at the Airport would be used, and Police were not being taken off the street to patrol the Base, he said.
  18. ^ "Representing the Overseas Territories in the UK Parliament and Government". UK Parliament (House of Commons Library). UK Government. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2024. All the Territories have a UK-appointed Governor, who generally holds responsibility for managing the Territory's external affairs, defence and internal security like the police, and often the power to make or veto laws.......As a matter of constitutional law, the UK Parliament has unlimited power to legislate for the Territories. However, passing legislation for the Territories is rare.
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